Morocco ranks second in the list of the most migrant exporting countries on the African continent, after Egypt, according to the latest report issued by the International Organization for Migration.
In its Global Migration 2024 report, the organization said that Morocco came second after Egypt, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia, and Algeria, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Mali.
Irregular migration from West and Central Africa often occurs along the Central Mediterranean route (sea crossings from North Africa and the Middle East mainly to Italy), the Western Mediterranean route (consisting of several branch lines linking Morocco and Algeria to Spain), and the West African Atlantic route (from coastal states in West Africa and Morocco to the Canary Islands in Spain).
“In 2022 alone, nearly 2,800 deaths and disappearances were recorded along the Central Mediterranean Route, the West African Atlantic Route, the Western Mediterranean Route, and other routes in West and Central Africa,” the report said.
The report ranked Morocco among the top 20 recipients of international remittances globally, stating that “it is estimated that it received more than US$11 billion in 2022, representing 8 percent of its GDP.”
At the international level, the report monitored an increase in international remittances by 650% from 128 billion US dollars in 2000 to 831 billion US dollars in 2022, adding that the flows of remittances to migrants had a greater role than foreign investment in enhancing the gross domestic product of developing countries, and monitored 281 million international migrants around the world, while the number of displaced people reached a record by the end of 2022 to become 117 million.
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